WATERY WEDNESDAY # 46

Let’s all get on our sweaters, hiking boots and grab a walking stick because we’re going for a hike in Northwestern US to meet a fish that starts and ends its life in freshwater. Be on the lookout, because the river will be full of them!

MEET THE SOCKEYE SALMON!

Range/Habitat: Northeast Asia-North Pacific-Northwest America/

rivers-oceans

Diet: Carnivore: zooplankton

Length/Weight: up to 33”/up to 15 lbs

Conservation Status: locally common

Fun Facts:

Sockeye salmon spawn in rivers and lakes.

They are also known as red salmon.

Sockeye salmon have blue heads and backs as adults.

Sockeye salmon live in the ocean for most of their adult lives.

They travel up to 900 miles to spawn (release their eggs & sperm to make new salmon).

When they go into freshwater systems to spawn they turn bright green and red.

A group of sockeye salmon is called a run.

Sockeye salmon are really cool fish! They die in the same freshwater habitat that they were born in. Can you imagine swimming all those miles? Sockeye salmon must get very tired!